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Americas

Bilateral deal-making involving governments of Latin America, the US and Canada.

last update: May 2012

Photo: rabble / CC BY-SA 2.0


Trade liberalisation without co-operation a no-no
William Jefferson Clinton once said that “the opposition to globalisation in the world is rooted in people who feel left out, left behind and stepped on in other countries.” Apparently, having accepted our status as doormats, the developing world has once again sent our highest authorities to the other end of the world to continue to hammer out a trade deal that maintains our city-mouse/country-mouse dynamic.
Reciprocal investment protection
The Heads of State and/or Government of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), during the Panama Summit held in July of this year, recognised in its Declaration, “the importance of having a Framework Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments among ACS members, an instrument that will help to promote, protect and confer legal certainty on investments ...”
CARICOM signs free trade agreement with Cuba
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders and Cuban President Fidel Castro have made an agreement giving Cuba access to free trade in the region.
DR, Mercosur initiate talks on free trade
The Common Market of the South (Mercosur), made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, today signed a "document of intention" with Dominican Republic for "broadening the common political and economic dialogue."
No pax americana
Indigenous movements are indeed a threat to the free-trade policies Bush is hawking, with ever fewer buyers, across Latin America. Their power comes not from terror but a terror-resistant strain of hope, so sturdy it can take root in the midst of Colombia’s seemingly hopeless civil war.
Free trade isn’t free of partisan politics
Bitter partisanship is putting the United States’ trade agenda in the Americas in serious jeopardy.
The fleeting charm of free trade
The signs are scattered and tentative. But it’s beginning to look as if American-style free trade is going out of style.
Caribbean: Trade winds gusting as region faces WTO meet
Recent developments in international trade highlight the difficulties facing the 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom) as it prepares for a key World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting in Hong Kong this December.
Caricom/Costa Rica free trade agreement being held up
The Caricom/Costa Rica free trade agreement is being held up while Costa Rica debates what is, essentially, a model for future trade pacts.
Trade pacts to the south losing appeal
An ambitious American plan for a hemispherewide trade pact, which President Bush described as a "vital link for prosperity," is mired in disputes that have led to widespread skepticism about its chances of ever materializing.

    Links


  • Americans For Free Trade
    A broad coalition of American businesses, trade organizations, and workers united against tariffs.
  • Americas Policy Program
    The Americas Program of the Center for International Policy is a leading source of information for activists, academics and citizens concerned about US foreign policy toward Latin America and movements for social justice within the hemisphere.
  • Biodiversidad en América Latina
  • Bloque Verde
    No hay ambiente para el TLC en Costa Rica
  • Citizens Trade Campaign - Bilateral Agreements
    The Citizens Trade Campaign is a US coalition of environmental, labor, consumer, family farm, religious, and other civil society groups founded in 1992 during the fight over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
  • Consejo de Investigaciones e Información en Desarrollo -CIID -
    Institución que impulsa el desarrollo de Guatemala y Centroamérica, a través de la investigación y la promoción de programas de desarrollo
  • Costa Rica Solidaria - NO al TLC
    Esta semana lo más relevante de nuestra lucha
  • Ecuador contra el TLC - Movilizaciones de Marzo 2006
    Photos
  • GMA
    The Grocery Manufacturers of America is a major lobby group on US FTAs
  • LATN
    The Latin American Trade Network is an independent and interdisciplinary research network
  • Movimiento Cultura frente al TLC
    El Movimiento Cultura frente al TLC es un colectivo de artistas que viaja por las comunidades llevando música, teatro, poesía, danza, pintura y talleres, informando a l@s costarricenses sobre las graves consecuencias que tendría para nuestro país la aplicación del Tratado de "Libre" "Comercio" (TLC)
  • NFTC
    The National Foreign Trade Council is a US business organisation lobbying the US government on its foreign trade policy
  • Trrade for People and Planet
    We want trade deals to be democratic, to benefit working people and the environment. We need to revolutionize the trade model and create a new global economy based on collaboration and ecological well-being.
  • US State Department Office of Bilateral Trade Affairs
    The Office of Bilateral Trade Affairs ensures that the overall foreign policy goals of the U.S. Government are factored into the development of U.S. bilateral trade policy.
  • US-Japan Business Council
    USJBC has been pushing for a US-Japan FTA
  • USTR
  • USTR National Trade Estimate Report
    Annual assessment of obstacles to US trade interests in foreign countries